There and Back Again: An Irish Tale, Part 1

After about 9 hours of flying in various airplanes, I arrived in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday, May 26 at 10:30am. After going through customs and all that, I was greeted almost immediately by Amanda and Jane, my Kansas friends. I was delighted to see them! Most of the group had already arrived, but we were still waiting for one family, and they arrived about an hour after I did. We were then introduced to David, our lovely English tour guide (who turned out to be a most hilarious man!), and we headed straight outside to board the private coach that was to take us through Ireland for the next several days. We boarded the coach, and headed to a 5th century monastery called Glendalough (pronounced Glen-da-lock). This was the first time I had ever seen the ruins of such an ancient place, and I was amazed that parts of it were still standing. There was also an amazing cemetery there, where thousands of people are buried beneath beautiful Celtic crosses. After walking through the cemetery and the other buildings of the monastery, we took a short little hike down to a beautiful lake, which was a great opportunity for pictures!

After our tour of Glendalough, we again boarded the coach and drove back into Dublin to the Abberly Court Hotel to get settled into our rooms and have dinner. I went to bed around 8:30 that night...the jet lag was beginning to take over, I think. That night, the wind picked up considerably, and I began to think we were in a hurricane...:) Enjoy the pictures, and stay tuned for Part 2!